Record stores can be an intimidating place for a girl, especially one that has never successfully put on a record without dropping the needle or getting sweaty fingerprints all over everything. I am a music lover but grew up slightly too late in the last century to cultivate a record collection and am unfortunately a child of the comparatively uncool and prehistoric CD generation. Nevertheless, as a Hip Hop fan, vinyl and record stores hold a fascination and I often try to sneak in to them without being detected, sniffed out and mortified like the bumbling nerd in High Fidelity.
However, I don't have to worry about this at Wyld Pytch because last time I went there I was actually invited inside. I was standing outside for a stalkerishly long time debating whether the Fela Kuti t-shirt in the window would fit me or not, when, out of nowhere, owner Digger Elias (yeah that's right) turned up behind me and said "like my shop? Come in!" So I did.
They specialise in R&B, Funk, soul and of course Hip Hop, the staff are all DJs and there is a friendly atmosphere of camaraderie and shared love of music rather than the pretentious posturing often witnessed in record shops as the workers argue out the pros and cons of the most recent remix of a remixed remix. They also sell (a few) CDs and do a worldwide mail order service, however the best thing to me about the shop is the t-shirt collection, some of the best adorned with the faces of greats like Gil Scott Heron, Fela Kuti and Richard Pryor.
http://www.wyldpytch.com/
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